Contributed by Elin Ostler

Elin Ostler  is a retired professional photographer, participant explorer in the Vista del Monte class, and charter member of the Integral Resilience Collaborative. The copyrighted photograph is from her collection. We welcome and appreciate Ellin’s contribution:

There is a story behind each of my photos and many of them have a lot of meaning. For example, the one above has a special meaning for me.  I found it on one of the Santa Barbara beaches.  The tree has been there for a long time and has been bent over by the winds of time.  It is like most of us as we get older.  Can you see the beauty in the moment?  Again it is like each of us as we get older, we age with the experiences of life, but we are still beautiful.

One of the most important lessons I learned by taking photographs was that by slowing down I could see much more of the world than I saw when I was in a hurry. If you go for a ride in a car, you can see a certain beauty in nature.  If you get out of your car and walk, you can even see more—much more.  However, if you take your camera with you and take photos of what you are seeing, you will begin to be part of nature and see even more.  And then if you download the photos onto your computer and look at them up close, you will totally be amazed at the glory and overwhelming magic that is in nature.  Nature becomes a miracle, and it is possible to see God in nature. The secret is slowing down.